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Animal Health TechnologyProgram

2018-2019

Career Education

This is a Career Education Program.
According to the California Department of Education, Career Education is a program
of study that involves a multiyear sequence of courses that integrates core academic
knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway
to postsecondary education and careers.

Description

The Animal Health Technology program prepares students for careers in the veterinary
medical arena. The program is approved by the California Department of Consumer Affairs
and the Veterinary Medical Board. Graduates may become Registered Veterinary Technicians
(RVT) upon passing an Animal Health Technology examination offered by the California
Department of Consumer Affairs.

Eligibility for enrollment in this program is determined by a special admission procedure.
Interested persons should call the Special Programs Admissions Clerk in the Admissions
Office at 619-388-2684.

Work Experience Requirement

Students accepted into this program will be required
to successfully complete a clinically-based work
experience course held in animal health care
facilities. These facilities may require background
checks, including fingerprinting, as a condition of
placement at the clinic.

Refusal to submit to a background check, or failure
to meet clearance criteria established by the animal
health care facility, may prevent placement at a work
experience site and thus, it may not be possible to
successfully complete the program.

Animal health care facilities also require adherence
to strict standards of conduct. Facilities may refuse
educational access to any person who does not
adhere to the facility’s standards of safety, health
and ethical behavior. This may be cause for removal
from the program.

Award Type

Units

Associate of Science Degree:

Animal Health Technology

42*

*and courses to meet graduation requirements,
general education and electives as needed to meet
the minimum of 60 units required for the degree.

Program Goals

The goal of the Animal Health Technology program is to train students to:

Properly and safely restrain the various species commonly seen in veterinary medicine.

Properly and accurately perform a thorough physical exam on the various species seen
in veterinary medicine.

Properly record the results of a physical exam using medical terminology.

Properly and accurately collect, analyze, and interpret blood, urine, and fecal samples
from small animals, exotics, pocket pets, avians and large animals.

Produce a series of diagnostic radiographs in common domestic species.

Induce anesthesia, monitor the patient during the procedure, and then recover the
animal completely from the anesthetic and surgical event.

Career Options

Career options for graduates of the Animal Health
Technology program include employment in
private veterinary facilities, bio-medical research
institutions, regulatory agencies, zoological parks,
pharmaceutical companies, and the animal nutrition
industry.

Associate of Science Degree

Animal Health Technology

Students must obtain a grade of “C” or better in all program prerequisites, or their
equivalents.

Transfer Information

Students planning to transfer to a four-year college or university should complete
courses required for the university major and the general education pattern required
by that transfer institution. See catalog TRANSFER INFORMATION section. Additional
courses may be required to meet university lower-division requirements.

Course requirements at the transfer institution are subject to change and may be verified
by a counselor or by consulting the current university catalog. Many Baccalaureate
in Arts degrees require third semester competency in a foreign language. Consult the
current catalog of the transfer institution and consult with a counselor.

Program Learning Outcomes

San Diego Mesa College 7250 Mesa College Drive San Diego, CA 92111-4998 619.388.2600